Blackfire (Australian band)

Blackfire were an Australian Indigenous band. They were formed in late 1992 and disbanded in 1999. The original members were Bradley Brown, Selwyn Burns, Kutcha Edwards, Grant Hansen and Kelli McGuinness. They released two albums, A Time to Dream (1994) and the Paul Hester produced Night Vision (1998).

Blackfire
GenresAustralian Indigenous
Years active1992 (1992)–1999 (1999)
LabelsCAAMA
Past members
  • Bradley Brown
  • Selwyn Burns
  • Kutcha Edwards
  • Grant Hansen
  • Kelli McGuinness
  • Leroy Cummins
  • Corey Noll
  • Heath Ramzan

History

Blackfire were formed in Melbourne in late 1992 by Bradley Brown (ex-Watbalimba, Interaction) on bass guitar, drums and vocals; Selwyn Burns (ex-Coloured Stone, Mixed Relations, No Fixed Address) on lead guitar and vocals; Kutcha Edwards on lead vocals, Grant Hansen (ex-Interaction, Mercury Blues) on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Kelli McGuinness (ex-Dr Koori, Interaction, Watbalimba) on drums, bass guitar, guitar and vocals.[1] Their first album, A Time to Dream, was released in 1994 by Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA).[2]

Leroy Cummins (ex-Christine Anu Band) joined the group on guitar in 1997 to expand the line-up, as did Corey Noll later on.[3] Blackfire toured extensively throughout Australia before travelling to Asia (Japan, China and Taiwan), alongside Archie Roach and the Naroo Dancers.[3] They recorded their second album, Night Vision (1998), with Paul Hester producing at his studio, the Lodge, in Melbourne.[4][3] Hansen compared their two albums, "some different sounds and different range of music. I'd say that it's much more universal than the first album. The first one was about being Kooris living in the city. It was a full-on rock album. This one's much more about hope for the future. The style of songs is a bit different – they’'re not as quick paced and rocked up, it's more mellow."[3]

People

Kelli McGuinness is the son of activist Bruce McGuinness, who made two films associated with the band: Black Fire in 1972, and A Time to Dream in 1974.[5][6]

References
  • Hayward, Philip (1998), Sound Alliances: Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Politics, and Popular Music in the Pacific, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-304-70050-9
  • Winkler, Tim (21 January 1994), "Blackfire singing the songs of conciliation", The Age
  • "Oz group scores a coup in China", Sunday Herald Sun, 2 May 1999
  • "Hansen act is on fire", Sunday Herald Sun, 3 May 1998
  • "Blackfire on target", Sunday Herald Sun, 15 May 1994
  1. "Bands: Blackfire". CAAMA Music. Archived from the original on 14 January 2002. Retrieved 30 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Blackfire (1994), A time to dream, Alice Springs, N.T.: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA Music), retrieved 30 March 2017
  3. "Hot Stuff". Deadly Vibe. No. 10/11. Vibe Australia. October 1997. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  4. Blackfire (1998), Night vision, Paul Hester, retrieved 30 March 2017
  5. Blackfire at IMDb
  6. Korff, Jens (21 December 2018). "Black Fire (Blackfire) (Film)". Creative Spirits. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  • Caritas (pdf) reconciliation. Stories of the heart / Sounds of the rock (study guide)
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